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Auburn NSW

Harvey Norman – 250 Parramatta Rd, Auburn NSW 2144

Overall: Stand alone parent room! Clean and basic. Nappy change, toilet, feed.

Good Points: Stand alone parent room. Change area separate from toilets. Spacious inside. Semi private feeding/change cubicles. Chairs. Paper towel, sink and soap. Nappy bins. Clean toilets. Clear signage.

Bad Points: Main doorway not big enough for double prams. Chairs aren’t very comfortable or suitable for feeding. 

Who would have thought a Harvey Norman Superstore would have a separate parents room? I certainly didn’t think there would be one. It’s probably not a big surprise to everyone else, but I was really excited to find it. When I think about it, families are probably going to spend a good hour or more in such a big store so it’s a a good thing there are toilets and a parents room. That way you don’t have to leave the store to look after the babies. Good thinking, Harvey Norman.

Coming up from the undercover carpark, underneath the store, I took the escalators to the first floor (which is ground level from the front entrance of the store). This is the furniture level. At the far end of the store there’s signs pointing to the toilets, and the sign also shows the baby symbol – this always gives me hope 🙂 So I headed off to check out the facilities, really only expecting to find a change table in a disabled bathroom. I was very happy to find a stand alone parent room! Yay!!!!

The doorway to the parent room is a regular size, so not good for bigger double prams.  Once inside the room though, it’s really quite spacious. The thing I like the most about this parent room is the complete separation of the toilets from the change/feed area. The first room I walked into is for changing babies and feeding. Then there’s another door which leads into the toilets. This is great!

I was surprised the fit-out of the parent room wasn’t more comfortable. Given that it’s within a furniture store, I was surprised to see a basic office chair and bar stool in the change cubicles. These chairs are fine to rest nappy bags, but aren’t at all comfortable for feeding babies. Wouldn’t there be a couple of last seasons armchairs floating around in the store somewhere that could be put in here for parents to use? Come on, there has to be something better than what’s in there now.

Chairs aside, this parent room is not all bad. The room has two semi-private baby change/feeding cubicles. Each has a bench bolted to the wall, which would be where babies are changed. There’s a chair in each one too (as mentioned above). There aren’t any curtains or doors on the cubicles, so BYO coverup if you like. The baby change section of the room also has a sink and paper towels, so you don’t have to walk through to the toilets to wash your hands after nappy changes.  And of course, there are a couple of nappy disposal bins just behind the main door as you walk in.

Overall, I think the store gets a big ‘thanks!’ from me for having a stand alone parent room, and for making it easy to find. It makes going out with little ones a whole lot easier.

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